Baltimore Archdiocese 'uniquely positioned' to name accused sexual abusers in redacted report, Maryland AG says

BALTIMORE -- The Maryland Attorney General's Office clarified in a pointed statement Friday that the Archdiocese of Baltimore could legally and independently identify accused abusers in the state's redacted report on historic child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese. 

The office last week released the 456-page investigation that details clergy, teachers, seminarians and deacons within the Archdiocese who allegedly assaulted more than 600 children going back to the 1940s.

The report was released with dozens of court-ordered redactions, including the names of 10 "credibly accused" abusers. 

The call-out came as survivors of sexual abuse in the church urge the archdiocese to identify the redacted perpetrators. It was in response to a statement made on the Archdiocese of Baltimore's website with frequently asked questions about the report. 

Related:

• Report into Archdiocese of Baltimore abuse scandal reveals how church protected priests
• 'They let it happen': Survivors of Catholic Church sexual abuse react to landmark report
• Survivors of abuse in Archdiocese of Baltimore call for release of redacted names

In response to the question "Does the Archdiocese agree with the Circuit Court's decision to redact some names in the Attorney General's report?" the Archdiocese deferred to the Circuit Court-ordered redactions—the conditions for which the Attorney General's report was allowed to be released. 

Attorney General Anthony Brown said the Archdiocese is "uniquely positioned to legally release those names to the public." 

Brown claims the church has had access to the report for months, and could release the names at its discretion. 

"To be clear, the redactions were done pursuant to the requirements set forth by a Court order," Brown said in a statement. "The Archdiocese can, at any time, publish those 10 names on their website as individuals who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse, yet they have not done so, despite having the full and completed report since November, as well as information about those 10 individuals for many years."

Now, survivors of sexual abuse in the church are calling on the Archdiocese of Baltimore to identify the 10 alleged perpetrators whose names were redacted from the Maryland Attorney General's explosive report.

""He (the archbishop) has an opportunity right now to really send a message and say this is it we are going to be fully transparent and truly be accountable—not only to the faithful, who deserve that—but more importantly, to the victims," SNAP communications director Mike McDonnell said. 

Maryland SNAP Director David Lorenz said all of the redactions are from church files.

"The attorney general is stuck. The church is not stuck," he said.

Brown's office would have to notify every person whose name has been redacted and give them a chance to explain why the redaction must be maintained before reealing their identity.

""The redactions will come out but not from the good will of the church, but from the efforts of the attorney general," Lorenz said.

The Archdiocese said that none of the 10 accused abusers is in the ministry today, but it is unclear why it has not added the names to its public list of accused child abusers. The list was published in 2002 and now includes 152 priests and others within the organization.